Garment-seam-ripping attachment for sewing-machines.



W. A. FLOWER.

GARMENT SEAM RIPPTNG ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES APPLICATION FILED NOV. 6. 1915.

1 ,255,6? 1 Patented. Feb. 19, 1918.

.Zmveniar William A..Flawer WILLIAM A. FLOWER, or BAKERSFIELD, CALIFORNIA.

GARMENTSEAM-RIPPING ATTACHMENT FOB SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb.'19.1918.

Application filed-November 6, 1916. Serial No. 129,756.

To all whom it mag/concern:

B'Q'It-k'DGWIl that 1, WILLIAM A. FLOWER, a ci t1zen of the Unitedstates, residing at Bakersfield, in thecounty' of Kern and State of California have invented new and useful Improvements 4 in Garmcnt Seani-Rippin-g,

Attachments for SewingsMachines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an attachment for sewing machines and particularly pertains to a seam ripping device.

It is an object of this invention to provide a device which may; be detachabl-y; mounted upon and actuated by a sewing machine and which will provide simple I and effective means for ripping the stitching. of garment seams.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device of the above character havinga rotary cutter disk which may be operated by movement of the foot treadle of the machine and will rapidlyact to sever the stitching of the seams.

Another object is to provide means whereby the stitching being ripped may be magnified-and thereby more easily manipulated as it is fed into the cutting edge of the re volving cutter disk.

Another object is to provide means for maintaining the device in driving engagement with the sewing machine-without the use of positively acting mechanisms which would complicate the construction.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device of the above character which is compactin construction and simple in design, and is not liable to become broken.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention is illustrated, by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in end elevation illustrating the device as operatively applied for use in connection'with the head of a sewing machine and in frictional engagement-with the hand-wheel thereof.

Fig. 2 isa view in side elevation with parts broken away for the sake of convenience and illustrates in detail the construction of the device.

Fig. 3 is a view in plan elevation illustrating the feed plate and the relation of the cutter disk and its guard-thereto as well as the manner in which the cutter disk is driven.

Fi 4 is an enlarged view in section as seen on tli e line M of Fig. 3 and as illustrating the mountingof the cutter disk within the supporting arm.

Referring-to the drawings more particularly,- 10 indicates the table of a sewing machine upon-which is mounted a machine head 11. Thehead maybe of any desired construction and is provided with a hand-wheel:

12 adapted to rotate with a pulley wheel 13 around which a belt ll extends. This belt is moved by. theaction of a foot treadle with which the ordinary sewing machine is equipped.

Secui'ed to theedge of the ;table-1O is'a U-cl'amp 15 whichisprovided'with aset clamp against the upper face of the table aS the screw 16 is tightened beneath the table. The jaw 17 is formed with a verticallydisposed upright 18 upon the upper end of which is pivotally mounted a swinging arm 19. This arm is secured to the upright by means of a pivot bolt 20 and is formed with a rearwardly extending lever portion 21. The lever 21 is of a proper length to support a friction roller 22 in peripheral engagementwith ha-nd-wheel 12, the roller being secured to said lever by a pivot bolt 23. The opposite end of swinging arm 19 is formed with a short lever portion 24 which is in longi-t-udinal al-inement with'the portion 21 andserves' as a support for a circular cutter disk 2dwhich-is mounted upon a pivot pin 26. This end of the lever is enlarged and snlit to fornrguard plates 2? and 28 between which the cutter disk is adaptedto rotate. The forward edges of the plates 27 and 28 are cut away to allow the seam of garments to be drawn into cutting engagement with the sharpened edge of the disk. To further inclose the cutter disk, a guard finger 29 is disposed partly over it and is secured along the upper face of the swinging arm 19, thereby preventing the operator from becoming injured while using the device. r

The cutter disk is adapted to be rotated by means of friction roller 22 in engagement with the wheel 12. Secured upon the pivot bolt 23 and adapted to move in unison with theroller 22 is a pulley wheel 30 around which a suitable belt 31 is led to a pulley wheel 32 supported by a bracket 33 at the side of the guard plate 27 and mounted upon disk pin 26, thereby causing rotary motion to be imparted from the wheel 12 to the disk 25.

As a means for facilitating in the feed of goods to the cutter disk, a magnifying glass '70 screw 16 adapted to draw jaw 17 of the 34 is suitably disposed above the disk and focused thereupon. A bracket arm by which the glass is supported is pivotally mounted upon pin 20 and so formed as to allow the glass 3% to be moved toward and away from the work as well as to allow it to be swung entirely out of operative relation thereto when desired.

In order to permit the device to be used on sewing machines of various design, a pressure spring 36 is provided and acts to force the swinging arm in the direction of arrow a so that roller 22 will be held in suit-' able frictional engagement with the handwheel of any machine upon which the device may be applied.

In operation, the device may be mounted upon the table of the sewing machine, as indicated in Fig. l of the drawings, by securing the U-clamp thereupon by means of set screw 16. When in this position, spring 36 will act to swing arm 19 upwardly and cause roller 22 to engage the hand-wheel 12. The hand-Wheel may now be rotated by the machine treadle and will impart rotary motion to roller 22 and its pulley 30, after which themotion will be transmitted by belt 31 to pulley 32 and the disk 25. The work to be operated upon may now be placed upon a supporting plate 37 and advanced into contact with the sharpened edge of the rotating disk. In case the seams to be ripped are tine, the arm 35 may be swung downwardly and magnifying glass 3at focused upon the work, thereby allowing the stitching to be cut without danger of damaging the garment.

It will thus be seen that the device here disclosed may be actuated in a positive manner to rapidly sever the stitching in'garmerit seams without danger of cutting the material of the garment, and that the device may be readily mounted and removed from an operative position upon most sewing machines.

I claim:

1. In a seam ripping device, the combination with the rotary hand-wheel of a sewing machine, of a friction roller in peripheral engagement therewith, a'swinging arm at one end of which said roller is mounted, a cutter disk rotatably mounted at the other end of said arm, pivotal supporting means securedto said arm intermediate its ends, and atransmission medium whereby rotation of said roller by the hand-wheel will actto rotate said cutter disk.

2. In a seam'ripping device, the combination with the rotary hand-wheel of a sewing machine, of'a swinging arm, a friction roller Copies otthis patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing'the "Commissioner Washington, D. C.

rotatably secured at one end of said arm, a cutter disk rotatably secured at the opposite end of said arm, means for causing said roller and disk to rotate in unison, a pivotal support secured to said arm intermediate its ends, and means whereby said roller may be resiliently held in frictional engagement with the periphery of said hand-wheel.

3. In a seam ripping device, the combi nation with a sewing machine having a rotatable hand-Wheel mounted upon the head thereof, of a swinging arm, a friction roller rotatably secured at one end of said arm. a cutter disk rotatably secured at theother end of said arm, detachable means pivotally secured to said arm intermediate its ends whereby the device may be secured to said sewing machine, adjustable means for maintaining said friction roller in engagement with the periphery of the hand-wheel, and means whereby rotation of said friction roller by the hand-Wheel will act to rotate the cutter disk.

4. A seam ripping device, comprising an adjustable clamping member adapted to detachably engage the table of a sewing'machine, a swinging arm pivotally secured to said clamping member and thereabove, a friction roller rotatably mounted at one end of said swinging arm, a cutter disk rotatably mounted at the other end of said swinging arm, guard means for said disk, a work supporting plate secured adjacent said disk, magnifying means for enlargingthe work being acted upon, means whereby said mag nifying member may be removably f positioned above said work, resilient means for maintaining the roller in frictional engagement with the hand-wheel of a sewing machine, and means whereby rotation of said roller by said hand-wheel will be imparted to the cutter disk and produce rotation of said disk.

5. In a seam ripping device, the combination with the rotary hand-wheel of a sewing machine, of a friction roller in peripheral engagement therewith, aswinging arm at one end of which said roller is mounted, a cutter disk rotatably mounted at the other end of said arm, means pivotally supporting said arm, means whereby the rotation of said roller by the hand-wheel will rotate the cutter disk, and a supporting plate rigidly fixedto the swinging arm and extending forwardly beside the cutter disk and in front of the cutter disk so as to support the work as it is fed to the cutter disk.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

\VILLIAM A. FLOWVER.

of Patents, 

